Monday, April 28, 2014

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Center for Restorative Justice Works to host the 15th annual Get On The Bus events.

Hundreds of children will visit their mothers in various locations for Mother’s Day during the 15th annual Get On The Bus events.The event is designed to provide children and caregivers with an opportunity to travel to female prisons for free for the special visiting day.

The annual visitation day will take place on May 3 at Folsom Women’s Facility (FWF) 300 Prison Road, Represa and California Institution for Women (CIW) 16756 Chino-Corona Road, Corona.A second visiting day is scheduled for May 9, 2014 at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) at 8 AM.

To schedule a visit, please RSVP by Tuesday, April 29, 2014 with one of the following peace officers:

Friday, April 25, 2014

On
April 19, 2014 the Calipatria State Prison (CAL) Honor Guard presented the
State of California and United States flags at the Los Angeles Staples Center to
kick off the 2014 National Basketball Association play-off series featuring the
LA Clippers and the Golden State Warriors. This high-profile event is just one of many
for the CAL Honor Guard. In the past
year alone they have conducted the flag ceremony for the San Diego Padres, the
San Diego Chargers, the L.A. Kings, and the Anaheim Ducks.

Correctional
Sergeant (Sgt.) Robert Silvas has served as a member of the CAL Honor Guard for
nearly twenty years. He assumed
leadership of the team in 2011 and decided to focus on diversifying the team’s
event profile. Silvas began by reaching
out to the LA Clippers who responded with open arms. Sgt. Silvas says, “We always receive such
positive feedback and have been invited back to every event we do.”

Participation
in the Honor Guard is 100% voluntary.
Officers take time out of their personal lives after their shifts and on
days off. With that in mind, Silvas
stresses the importance of including the officers’ families at every event stating,
“For many of the officers’ children, it is their first experience at a major
league sports game or even a parade.
They get to see their parents in uniform serving CDCR and the local
community.”

Silvas
includes a female officer when possible to reaffirm that women are an important
part of the peace officer team. They
have received positive reactions from young girls who are amazed that women
serve as peace officers. Local Reserve
Officers Training Corps participation is encouraged by having local high
schools make appearances alongside the Honor Guard during half-time shows. These events have proven to be a valuable
recruitment tool, not only for the Honor Guard but for CDCR in general.

The
CDCR’s Honor Guard helps to further the interests of the Department and contributes
to long standing positive relationships with local communities.